Apocalypticism In The Dead Sea Scrolls

Since the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls were released in 1992, there has been an explosion of interest in them. This volume explores the issue of apocalypticism in the Scrolls; how the notions of the 'end', Messianic expectation and eternal life affected the Dead Sea sect, influenced Judaism and filtered into Christianity. Collins' volume provides a valuable and accessible introduction to the interpretation of the Scrolls, which is an informative addition to the series examining the major themes of the Scroll texts.

Since the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls were released in 1992, there has been an explosion of interest in them. This volume explores the issue of apocalypticism in the Scrolls; how the notions of the 'end', Messianic expectation and eternal life affected the Dead Sea sect, influenced Judaism and filtered into Christianity. Collins' volume provides a valuable and accessible introduction to the interpretation of the Scrolls, which is an informative addition to the series examining the major themes of the Scroll texts.

This volume explores the issue of apocalypticism in the Scrolls; how the notions of the 'end', Messianic expectation and eternal life affected the Dead Sea sect, influenced Judaism and filtered into Christianity.

The volume contains the papers read at the 51st Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense (July 31 - August 2, 2002) dedicated to the study of the theme of Wisdom and Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the biblical tradition in general. The "Main papers" and some of the "Offered papers" have been thematically grouped in four parts. Part I comprises four articles dealing with the relationship between wisdom and apocalypticism in the Scrolls compared to the biblical tradition. Part II includes five papers which focus on specific wisdom compositions from Qumran, such as 1Q/4QMysteries, 4QInstruction, 4QTime of Righteousness, or the "Tractate of the Two Spirits" from the Rule of the Community. The nine contributions of Part III analyse different aspects of biblical Wisdom compositions (in Qohelet, Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon) or of apocalyptic writings (in 1 Enoch and 4 Ezra) in the light of the Qumran Wisdom texts. Part IV groups six studies on several aspects of the Wisdom compositions from Qumran (messianic ideas, ecstatic worship, the beatitudes, or the fate of the righteous) which are directly relevant for the study of the New Testament. The articles are written in English (14), French (6), and German (4). Among the contributors are specialists of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Jean Duhaime, Torleif Elgvin, Armin Lange, Hermann Lichtenberger, Emile Puech, Eibert Tigchelaar) and of Early Judaism (e.g., John J. Collins, Daniel Harrington, Michael Knibb), as well as Old Testament scholars (e.g., Hainz-Josef Fabry, Maurice Gilbert, Klaus Koch).

Since the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls were released in 1992, there has been an explosion of interest in them. This volume explores the issue of apocalypticism in the Scrolls; how the notions of the 'end', Messianic expectation and eternal life affected the Dead Sea sect, influenced Judaism and filtered into Christianity. Collins' volume provides a valuable and accessible introduction to the interpretation of the Scrolls, which is an informative addition to the series examining the major themes of the Scroll texts.

The Dead Sea Scrolls have expanded the corpus of early Jewish apocalyptic literature and tested scholars’ ideas of what apocalyptic means. With all the scrolls now available for study, contributors to this volume engage those texts and many more to reexplore not only definitions of the genre but also the influence of the Dead Sea Scrolls on the study of apocalyptic literature in the Second Temple period and beyond. Part 1 focuses on debates about categories and genre. Part 2 explores ancient Jewish texts from the Second Temple period to the early rabbinic era. Part 3 brings the results of scroll research into dialogue with the New Testament and early Christian writings. Contributors include Garrick V. Allen, Giovanni B. Bazzana, Stefan Beyerle, Dylan M. Burns, John J. Collins, Devorah Dimant, Lorenzo DiTommaso, Frances Flannery, Matthew J. Goff, Angela Kim Harkins, Martha Himmelfarb, G. Anthony Keddie, Armin Lange, Harry O. Maier, Andrew B. Perrin, Christopher Rowland, Alex Samely, Jason M. Silverman, and Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg.

This collection of essays is a tribute to Rachel Elior’s decades of teaching, scholarship and mentoring. If a Festschrift reflects the individuality of the honoree, then this volume offers insights into the scope of Rachel Elior’s interests and scholarly achievements in the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish apocalypticism, magic, and mysticism from the Second Temple period to the later rabbinic and Hekhalot developments. The majority of articles included in the volume deal with Jewish and Christian apocalyptic and mystical texts constituting the core of experiential dimension of these religious traditions.

Eight European and North American scholars explore the concept of divinity in the Scrolls (monotheism vs. a host of divine beings, and the efficacy of prayer), the Scrolls' relation to important halakic issues (the interpretation of sacrifice and the continuity of halakic tendencies), the question of Hellenistic influence (especially the Greek language), and the Scrolls' apocalypticism and messianism. Included is one index of ancient literature and one of modern authors. Collins is professor of the Old Testament at Yale and Kugler is professor of religious studies at Gonzaga. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR